Albert Pujols, Future Mets Manager?

[seawolf17]

Huh. Can he still play some first base too?

[ashie62]

Cohen would likely love it and Stearns not so much

I would prefer lesser profile myself

[metirish]

Managed DR , probably great relationship with Soto 

[Benjamin Grimm]

13 minutes ago, ashie62 said:

I would prefer lesser profile myself

I tend to agree. 

[MFS62]

He would be another slow ex-Cardinal first basemen to manage the Mets. The other had a .405 winning percentage.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

And became a Hall of Fame manager.

[Frayed Knot]

34 minutes ago, ashie62 said:

I would prefer lesser profile myself

Someone like, say, Mendoza?

[seawolf17]

Yeah, but in Mets Manager Torre's defense, he took over a terrible team built around one guy who could mash and then a bunch of guys around him who couldn't hit their way out of a paper bag, as opposed to this team.

(Oh, wait.)

[Edgy MD]

I, too, have let friends know I'd very much want the Mets manager job.

[MFS62]

56 minutes ago, Benjamin Grimm said:

And became a Hall of Fame manager.

The DH rule and Mariano Rivera made it easier for him. He didn't have to think as much as when he managed in the NL earlier in his career. 

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Laura Albanese of Newsday lists eight candidates to be the next permanent manager. Pujols is among them. Edgy MD isn't.

 

Andy Green
Green has had significant success as senior vice president of baseball development and has the experience, having managed the Padres from 2016 to 2019, though to little success. Those teams had a combined .428 win percentage.

Kai Correa
The bench coach is usually next in line when a manager is fired, and the Mets were certainly high on Correa, whom they brought on for his defensive acumen. Correa served as the Giants’ interim manager for three games in 2023, and could eventually ascend to the top spot as he continues to develop in the co-pilot chair under Green.

Carlos Beltran
Already serving as a special assistant to the general manager, Beltran was named manager in November 2019 before the commissioner’s report on the Astros' sign-stealing scandal called him out by name. Baseball has since forgiven him — he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer — and this could be his time for a second chance.

Alex Cora
Cora was fired by the Red Sox earlier this season, but helped that team win a World Series in 2018 and has a career .534 win percentage. He also helped the Astros win a World Series as a coach in 2017, but he was heavily involved in the sign-stealing scandal.

Dick Scott
Scott, the team’s Triple-A manager, was highly regarded last year for the progress he made with both prospects and players alike. He and his coaching staff helped Francisco Alvarez get back on track after his demotion in 2025, and he helped foster the likes of Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat. That said, much of the Mets’ minor-league talent has taken a step back this season.

Albert Pujols
Coming off a stint as the Dominican Republic’s manager in the World Baseball Classic, the Hall of Famer is in pursuit of his first true major league managerial job and previously interviewed for the Angels position before they opted for Kurt Suzuki.

Rocco Baldelli
Baldelli, currently with the Dodgers' front office, might want another crack at the manager’s chair after serving as the Twins’ skipper from 2019 to 2025, and as a coach with the Rays for three years before that.

Mark DeRosa
Team USA's manager for the World Baseball Classic in both 2023 and 2026, the former utility infielder was on the short list to replace Terry Collins in 2017 before then-general manager Sandy Alderson opted for Mickey Callaway.

[metirish]

From that list I would go

 

Beltran 

Baldelli 

Cora 

 

[Edgy MD]

Reid Brignac managed Binghamton to a 90-46 record last season and an Eastern League title.  It was one of the greatest minor-league teams in Mets organizational history, and he was named Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America.

Not getting the promotion he seemingly deserved from the Mets, he surprised them by jumping to the Tampa Bay Rays organization.  I'd like to see him get shortlisted here.  A lot of the players he would inherit would be guys he has already successfully managed.